58.
He carried on the war actively for eight years, till the close of B.C.
51. But he was still proconsul of Gallia in the year B.C. 50. Plutarch
has not attempted a regular narrative of Caesar's campaigns, which
would have been foreign to his purpose (see the Life of Alexander, c.
1); nor can it be attempted in these notes. The great commander has
left in his Commentary on the Gallic War an imperishable record of his
subjugation of Gaul.]
[Footnote 479: Plutarch here, after his fashion, throws in a few
anecdotes without any regard to the chronological order.]
[Footnote 480: Massalia, an ancient Greek settlement, now Marseilles,
was called Massilia by the Romans. The siege of Massalia is told by
Caesar (_Civil War_, ii. 1, &c.). It took place after Pompeius had fled
from Brundisium.]
[Footnote 481: The story of Scaeva is told by Caesar (_Civil War_, iii.
53). The missiles were arrows. As to the exact number of arrows that
the brave centurion Scaeva received in his shield, see the note in
Oudendorp's Caesar. Scaeva was promoted to the first class of centurions
(Suetonius. _Caesar_, 68).]
[Footnote 482: Cordoba or Cordova in Hispania Baetica. Caesar must
therefore have been subject to these attacks during his quaestorship,
or at least his praetorship in Spain.
Of Caesar's endurance and activity, Suetonius also (_Caesar_, 57) has
preserved several notices.]
[Footnote 483: Kaltwasser translates this: "He travelled with such
speed that he did not require more than eight days to reach the Rhone
after leaving Rome;" as if this was his habit.
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